Asia-Pacific

US urges Turkey to send more troops to Afghanistan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-02 21:50

ISTANBUL: The United States Wednesday urged Turkey to send more troops to the war in Afghanistan after President Barack Obama announced his decision to begin a troop surge there.

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The statement was made by US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey and was broadcast by CNN Turk on Wednesday.

Jeffrey said as part of its Afghan strategy, the United States would like to see Turkey play a bigger role in the war.

Turkey has already deployed 720 troops to Afghanistan, according to the report.

On Tuesday, Obama said he will send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan as he vowed to "seize the initiative" to end the war against the Taliban and al-Qaida and start a pullout in July 2011.

The semi-official Anatolia news agency reported that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss the organization's strategy in Afghanistan among other issues.
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